Spate of suspicious fires in Middleboro and elsewhere has officials concerned arsonist on the loose

Tuesday

Nov 27, 2012 at 12:01 AMNov 27, 2012 at 12:22 AM

Blazes are being investigated from Middleboro to Easton, and have been reported in several area towns.

Alice Elwell

An arsonist could be on the loose in the region.

Fire officials think it’s possible, and that the firebug might have struck in several area communities, setting fires to a motel, a restaurant, two garages, a condominium complex and three houses, all vacant or abandoned.

Two fires Monday in Halifax and Pympton have spurred the fear, but suspicious blazes recently have been reported throughout the region, including Middleboro, Easton and Raynham.

State Fire Marshall Stephen D. Coan is investigating arson in back-to-back blazes that broke out in Halifax and Plympton between 3 and 5 a.m. on Monday. The fires were just over three miles apart – two firefighters were injured in the Halifax blaze on Monponsett Street and treated at a local hospital.

While Coan isn’t linking Monday’s fires to a string of suspicious fires in the region, his spokeswoman Jennifer Mieth said an investigation is under way into several fires set in the region. She declined to say which fires.

Monday’s blazes come on the heels of a Thanksgiving Day fire in Middleboro that is under investigation for arson, and just eight miles from the Plympton fire.

There was another suspicious fire in a vacant building under construction the following day in Kingston.

“This is the fourth fire in the last few days under investigation for arson,” said Plympton Fire Chief Warren Borsari. “Our police will be stepping up patrols.”

Middleboro Fire Chief Lance Benjamino said the Thanksgiving blaze is the fourth suspicious fire since September in Middleboro, when a fire was knocked down at the Alpine Motel. Two weeks later, a second fire destroyed the building.

About two weeks after that, Benjamino said another vacant building caught fire on Wareham Street and is also under suspicion for arson.

Kingston Fire Chief Robert T. Heath declined to comment on the fire in his town because it is under investigation.

The suspicious fires could be more widespread than officials revealed – other communities farther away have also had suspicious blazes recently.

“We do have one,” said Holbrook Fire Lt. Donald Austin. He said a Nov. 18 fire at a commercial building is considered suspicious and under investigation.

Investigators say the Nov. 13 blaze at a restaurant in Easton was also arson. Easton Fire Cpt. James Walsh said the old Diplomat restaurant, renamed the Carriage House, had been vacant for several years before the fire broke out.

In Raynham, Fire Chief James T. Januse said an unfinished condominium complex was damaged in a suspicious fire in his town on Nov. 10, and that it was under investigation. The complex, called Bella Estates, is near the intersection of Route 44 and Hill Street.

The State Fire Marshall said the fires in Halifax and Plympton were intentionally set and is asking for help in catching the fire bug.

Also, Middleboro Police Chief Bruce D. Gates is worried the four fires in Middleboro are also connected and the work of an arsonist.